


Mistletoe and Holly

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Thicker than Water [8]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Holidays, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 14:24:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2432054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I say we celebrate a cool Jewish holiday next year.” Morgan said.  “Which one revolves around food?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mistletoe and Holly

**Author's Note:**

> This story is told in the **Thicker than Water** universe, where members of the BAU are kids and teenagers. This seems to be where Jason and Emily speak to me the most lately. And I'm still on a Christmas kick.

Jason used his key to open the door. He and Hotch pulled the tree into the apartment. Penelope jumped up from the couch where she was sitting with Emily.

“Oh my God, oh my God, it’s the most awesomest tree ever!”

“Yes, it’s so awesome that Penelope made up a new word.” Morgan snickered.

“Awesomest is so a word, isn’t it Spencer?”

“Um…”

“It doesn't matter.” She waved her hand as if she was carrying a magic wand. “It’s the best tree in the whole wide world.”

Hotch grabbed the holder from Morgan and he and Jason set the tree up in the corner of the room. Pulling it out from the wall so it would be easier to decorate, Jason got down on his knees to secure it into place as Hotch held it steady.

“Lets decorate it now!” Penelope hopped eagerly from one foot to the other as if they were on fire.

“I think she's about to shoot out of her slipper socks.” Morgan grinned.

“You have school tomorrow.” Jason said. “We’ll do it tomorrow evening.”

“But that’s so far from now. How am I supposed to concentrate tomorrow knowing its here all alone?”

“Sweet tree.” JJ came out of the bathroom. “We didn’t steal it, did we?”

“Stealing is wrong.” Jason replied.

“Well how did we get it?” She asked.

“Mr. Kassmeyer’s father sells them.” Hotch said. “He gave it to us for free.”

“I tried to give him a little something.” Jason added. “He told me not to block his blessings.”

“What did he mean by that?” Spencer asked.

It was a very nice tree. The needles almost looked blue. It was tall and full and would probably look very nice with the decorations they bought. Spencer liked Christmas, even though Halloween was his favorite holiday. He liked the decorations and definitely the cookies and pie.

“Giving Jason the tree out of the kindness of his heart means God will return the favor to him like tenfold.” Morgan said. “You know, if you believe that kind of thing.”

“So if Gideon repays him then God will have no reason to.” JJ said. “Cuz then its not kindness, it’s just a business transaction.”

“I still don’t quite…”

“It’s alright, Spencer.” Jason said. “Let’s just say that the tree was free. And now its bedtime for some of us.”

“I think we should move up the changing of my bedtime to January.” JJ said. “It’s technically next year.”

“Yes, but its not middle school. Good try, JJ. Sweet dreams.”

“Man, you always have a snappy retort for everything. How do you do that?”

“It’s a big brother thing.” He replied.

“Well maybe you can give me a little of it for Christmas.”

“I’ll think about it. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Jason. Goodnight guys.”

They all said goodnight. Penelope bum rushed Jason and Hotch with hugs.

“You guys are the best! Our tree is gonna be so awesome that Santa definitely won't pass us by, even if he does have to climb the fire escape to get to us.”

Jason kissed her forehead and Hotch did too. Morgan gave her his usual hug…Penelope never went to bed without her Morgan squeeze as she called it. Then she hugged Emily and skipped to her room. Spencer asked if he could read a chapter or two of _East of Eden_ before he fell asleep. Jason said it was fine since it would most likely take five or ten minutes. Spencer got his kiss from Emily and waved to the boys before heading to the master bedroom.

“It’s a groovy tree.” Morgan said. “That sure was nice of Mr. Kassmeyer.”

“Imagine how nice it'll look when we decorate it.” Emily said. “Penelope went a little crazy on ornaments and stuff when we went to Wal-Mart on Saturday.”

“I was going to ask if you liked it.” Jason said. “You’ve been quiet over there.”

“It was hard to get a word in edgewise over Penelope’s excitement. I think it’s amazing. Mr. Kassmeyer is a very generous man.”

“Yeah, and he's not creepy nice like some dudes.” Morgan replied.

“Exactly.” Hotch pointed to him. “Creepy nice is not cool.”

“Well, we’re almost ready for the holiday.” Jason said. “I’ll pick up the chicken at the community center tomorrow and then its full Christmas mode. I did pretty good for a Jewish kid, huh?”

Morgan laughed while Prentiss and Hotch smirked.

“We know you do this for us, Jason.” Hotch said. “That’s what makes its special.”

Last year they didn’t make a big deal out of it. They didn’t have Penelope, JJ, or Emily yet. It wasn’t that they didn’t feel like a family before but the girls just made it even more so. This was important to them all now. Families celebrated holidays together.

“I say we celebrate a cool Jewish holiday next year.” Morgan said. “Which one revolves around food?”

“All of them.” Hotch and Prentiss said in unison. It was followed by the typical shouting of jinx.

“Some involve fasting and prayer followed by a large feast.” Jason said.

“I was with you until you said fasting.” Morgan replied.

“I think it’s a great idea, Jason.” Emily said as she got up from the couch. “We should be exposed to all the awesome cultures that make us who we are. Did both of your parents practice the faith?”

“They both came from devout families. We went to the synagogue a few times a month and observed most holidays on a large or small scale. My father seemed to appreciate Judaism from an intellectual point of view while mom’s was more cultural. They wanted to teach me the religion, the faith, and the culture. It was going to be my choice if I wanted to practice all of the aspects.”

“I think you should.” Emily replied.

“Says the indifferent Catholic.” Hotch said.

Emily licked out her tongue at him then asked if anyone wanted tea. Jason and Hotch did; Morgan wanted cocoa. She filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove. Emily knew Jason was watching, she could feel it, and she wondered what he was thinking as he did it.

***

It was almost midnight as Emily wiped Noxzema off her face in front of the bathroom mirror. She needed to be up in six hours. Thankfully it was Friday so she wouldn’t feel too guilty about her mind falling asleep in class. It was nearly the Christmas holiday…no one was paying attention anyway. Years from now when Emily looked back on fond teenage memories, she was sure her mind wouldn’t think of geometry class or Latin study group. Every special moment with Jason, and the family, was more important.

She brushed her teeth, cringing as she washed her mouth out with Listerine. When she opened the door he was leaning on the wall across from where she stood. Emily smiled at him…this was her favorite part. The goodnight kiss made everything that could or would happen during the day worth it.

“Look up.” Jason said.

She looked at him when he said it; saw the hint of mischief in his dark brown eyes. Emily recognized it because she’d seen it in other’s eyes before. She was in love with a rather serious boy but if anyone could get to that playful side deep down, it was her. She looked up at the mistletoe hanging from the top of the door.

“Well what do you know?” she asked.

Jason walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her neck. His kiss was both powerful and passionate. It made Emily dizzy, the best kind of dizzy. The world spun too fast and stopped turning all at the same time.

She gripped the back of his sweater, moaning into his mouth. Wowie, wow, wow, he’d never kissed her like this before. If this was what Emily had the rest of her life to look forward to then she was quite a lucky girl. Her hands moved up his back and through his raven ringlets.

“Oh shit, I'm…I gotta use the bathroom.”

The teenagers slowly came apart when the familiar voice invaded their bubble. Emily’s face turned cranberry when she saw Hotch. Her feet were stuck to the floor. Jason gently pulled them both out of the way. Hotch smile was sheepish as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

“I should probably…” she tried to walk away from Jason. His gentle hold of her hand stopped her.

“We haven’t had our goodnight kiss yet.” He pulled her back into his arms.

“What's gotten into you, Jason Gideon?”

“I’d just really like my goodnight kiss if it’s all the same to you.”

Emily couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. This was so worth being groggy all day tomorrow. Jason caressed her face as his forehead pressed on hers. Hotch flushed, opened the bathroom door, mumbled a quick goodnight, and rushed back to the sofa bed.

Jason pressed a gentle kiss to Emily’s lips. Then he pressed a little harder, his tongue sliding along her closed mouth. Emily opened her lips and allowed him to deepen the kiss. She pulled away before they were both satisfied…tonight had been heady enough. There would be very sweet dreams when she lay down on the feather bed.

“Goodnight, Katya.” He whispered.

They were still so close, he could feel her breathe. It was so hard to let her go tonight but Jason knew he had to.

“Goodnight.”

“I love you.”

“Me too.” she smiled and kissed his cheek. “Me too, me too, me too.” she put her hand over his heart for a moment before walking away.

Jason watched her go into the bedroom and close the door. He leaned against the wall, exhaling. Holy moly, what _had_ gotten into him? It was magnificent though; it always was when he and Emily kissed. Christmas was definitely worth celebrating if it made him feel this way. Who needed gifts when there was mistletoe? Smiling and running his fingers over his lips, Jason went to bed too.

***

  



End file.
